The Wonderful World of Was | October '23

☕ It's all about the caffeine ☕

It’s time to get caffeinated, my lovely people.

Today—as long as you’re reading it on the first day in October—is International Coffee Day, the one day of the year when our caffeine addiction is celebrated. Sure, it gives us that little buzz, but it can also help burn fat (as long as you’re drinking it black and without sugar, is a source of antioxidants, and is full of nutrients, including niacin, magnesium (vitamin B3), potassium, manganese, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), and riboflavin (vitamin B2). Studies also show that it can help fight depression, enhance physical performance, and help people to live longer. It truly is a magical liquid.

For anybody interested, my go to coffee is Killer Coffee Co, a Sydney-based company from whom I divide my time between Industrial Strength and Darkerside. For cold brew (or “flash brew,” in this instance), I can’t go past Boss Coffee, a Japanese brand now available in Australia. Right now, I’m digging their Rainbow Mountain Blend. And yes, those promotions are unpaid—I don’t have enough subscribers for anyone to pay me for such promotions (so take this as your timely reminder to subscribe—if enough of you do it, I might be able to hit those guys up for some free coffee).

This edition of the newsletter will be a little different to normal. Although September’s word count isn’t that much lower than August’s, my only writing focus has been on book reviews and this here newsletter. I wrote 19,954 words and spent 10:30 editing, and haven’t even written a blog post (unless you count a few paragraphs to introduce some quotes about writing—click here for content!). So I’ll be skipping most sections this month.

I’ll pause to let you breathe a sigh of relief about this mercifully short edition.

In addition to the reviews, I’d planned on writing a couple of blog posts, and hoped I would get back into the Luminary draft. It didn’t happen, and instead, I’ve found myself constantly on the back foot with reviews. For whatever reason, I haven’t been able to get ahead of schedule, which I should have easily done by now.

So that leaves me in the same place I ended August in. October’s going to be another big month for reviews, but it’s an eclectic mix of books—I’m looking forward to reading them.

As for where this leaves Luminary, I’d like to think I’ll have everything together enough to get back to it this month, but we’ll see how it goes. I’d love to, because I have something else I’d like to get to work drafting…

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Book Reviews

I said a little bit about October’s reviews up above, but what about September’s? It was a fairly big month, with a nice range of sci-fi and fantasy books. If you’re looking for something to read, why not take a look at…

Forged in Dragons’ Breath by Michael Lomonte is a love letter to dragons told via an epic fantasy involving a search for magical items. Read it if you like dragons, quests, and wonderfully realised fantasy worlds.

Callisto 2.0, Cupid’s Arrow, The Orange Light of an Alien Sun and Infinite Horizons are the first four books in Susan English’s Shambhala Saga, a feminist, LGBTQI+ sci-fi series. Read them if you enjoy science fiction stories anchored by wonderful characters.

Whispers of a World Breaker is the first novel, and Ashes of a Risen Empire, the first novella in Corey Ratliff’s Elmerïan Chronicles, a fantasy saga that captured beauty and brutality. Read them if you’re a fan of in-depth fantasy worlds, dark stories, YA tales, and most of all, dragon riders.

Unshackled Intelligence by Remi Cape is a sci-fi tale, written as part of the Inkfort Press Publishing Derby, and tells a thriller about cryogenics. Read it if you enjoy technothrillers that muse about the possibility of people choosing to become immortal.

The Darkest Lullaby is an anthology brought to you by Elle Beaumont, Marlena Frank, Katya De Becerra, C. Vonzale Lewis, Jessica Cranberry and D.M. Siciliano that tells stories about nannies and the children they look after. Read it if you’re a fan of brief, creepy tales.

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Bowie Album of the Month: Toy

I have a confession to make: Toy is the only Bowie album I’ve downloaded illegally. In my defence, it wasn’t officially available at the time. It was leaked online, and it is my firm belief that Bowie (an internet futurist; maybe I should say something about that in a future newsletter) was responsible for the leak (it’s since been released posthumously). He recorded the album, but the record label wasn’t a fan of it, so he repurposed it into his Heathen album.

Unlike most of Bowie’s other albums, it doesn’t include much of a throughline. Instead, it mixes re-recorded songs from the 60s with new recordings of songs he never released. “I Dig Everything”’s riff is brilliant, and a fun way to open the album; “Let Me Sleep Beside You” is surprisingly and amusingly graphic for its original time period; and “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” is a catchy exercise in vanity. Despite the lack of a common thread, other than them originally being recorded by a much younger artist, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable album.

And yes, I did get it once it was available legally.

And with that, I’ll see you after a hopefully more productive month.

TTFN,

Was